DAYTON, Ohio — Jesse McCulloch scored 18 points and Cleveland Heights Lutheran East secured its second-straight state championship 45-36 in the OHSAA Division III boys’ basketball state championship game at UD Arena on Sunday.
Cleveland Heights Lutheran East (23-5) won its third state title in the past four years and captured back-to-back championships for the first time in school history. The Falcons appeared in the state semifinal in each of the past four seasons.
“That was always the goal,” Cleveland Heights Lutheran East head coach Sam Liggins said. “It’s a testament to our entire school. You don’t achieve any of that without that kind of support.”
Both teams combined for 81 points, breaking the previous 2009 record for the lowest scoring total in a Division III state championship game.
“We’ve played really good teams with really good guards and aggressive teams before, so we’re used to it,” Liggins said. “We talked about this moment, like, ‘Hey, if you guys want to win a state championship, you’re going to have to guard.’”
Both teams shot over 52.4% in the first half as the Falcons held a 30-22 edge. Cleveland Heights Lutheran East led by as many as 11 points and saw McCulloch, who was a 2024 Ohio Mr. Basketball finalist and is committed to Michigan State, score 14 in the half.
Canal Winchester Harvest Prep (24-5) rallied in the fourth quarter when Khalil Daniels completed an and-one opportunity to draw the Warriors within nine points
Adons Abrams made a layup in transition, bringing the game to 39-32 with 3:31 left. But that would be as close as Canal Winchester Harvest Prep would come as McCulloch kick-started a 6-0 run with a layup in transition that kept the Warriors at bay.
“We’ve been through adversity before this season,” McCulloch said. “We played through tough games like Lutheran West and St. Ignatius, and we thought, ‘This is the moment. We got to bring it all home, leave it on the floor tonight.’”
Canal Winchester Harvest Prep finished with 36 points, the lowest scoring total in a Division III state championship game, nudging the previous record of 37 set by Portsmouth in 2012.
Daniels led the Warriors with nine points. Abrams six points on 3-of-5 shooting.
“We knew that there was a big challenge ahead of us,” Canal Winchester Harvest Prep head coach David Dennis Sr. said. “We felt and knew we were prepared and ready, and I thought at times we did that.”